Seattle Mayor Pete Holmes

Mayor Pete Holmes has been a Seattle resident since 1985, and was sworn into office as Seattle City Attorney on January 4, 2010. Pete received his B.A. in American Studies from Yale College in 1978, with a concentration in Energy & Environmental Sciences. He worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., in Washington, D.C., before entering the University of Virginia School of Law, where he and his wife Ann each earned their J.D. in 1984. Soon after Holmes was elected as mayor, arrests for possession of marijuana increased significantly, but none of these cases were prosecuted. He wrote and editorial in the Seattle Times in response to this calling for legislation, and sponsored Washington Initiative 502 to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana for adult recreational use. Holmes was present in media providing his legal opinion in local press, radio, and television broadcasts, and took part in public debates as an advocate of legalization. He framed the issue as a method of confronting racially disproportionate drug enforcement.